Football Hosts San Diego For Family and Friends

Complete Northern Colorado Notes
San Diego Notes
Big Sky Conference Notes
Purchase Tickets

Date: Saturday, September 12, 2009
Kickoff: 1:35 p.m. Mountain
Location: Greeley, Colo.
Stadium: Nottingham Field
Capacity: 8,500
Surface: Natural Grass
Series: USD, 1-0
Last Meeting: 2007: L, 13-49
Radio: KFKA 1310 AM
Play-by-Play: Troy Coverdale
Color: Alex Egan
Television: N/A
Live Stats: uncbears.com
Video Streaming: bigskytv.org
Promotions: Family & Friends; First 500 students receive T-Shirts

Series Information
Saturday marks the second-ever meeting between Northern Colorado and San Diego... In 2007, the Toreros won a 49-13 decision over the Bears in San Diego... USD opened its season against Azusa Pacific on a field NC quarterback Bryan Waggener is very familiar with, at Citrus College. Waggener played for Citrus in Glendora in 2005 and 2006, throwing for over 3,500 yards in two seasons... The Bears have 13 players on the roster from California, with senior defensive tackle Tony Kolone hailing from San Diego... The Toreros have four players from Colorado on their roster, including starting quarterback Sebastian Trujillo and leading rusher Phil Morelli... Northern Colorado is 3-16 all-time against programs from California (Cal Poly 2-6, Sacramento State 0-3, San Diego 0-1, UC Davis 1-4, UC Santa Barbara 0-2), while San Diego is 2-1 all-time against teams from Colorado (Air Force 0-1, Northern Colorado 1-0, Western State 1-0)... USD defensive coordinator and NC head coach Scott Downing coached at Nebraska together from 1984-86.

Home Opener
Northern Colorado opens the home portion of the 2009 schedule hosting San Diego on Family & Friends weekend. The Bears are hoping to snap a three-game losing skid on Family & Friends game. In 2006, NC lost 38-7 to UC Davis, lost 31-0 to Chadron State in 2007 and a year ago lost a close, exciting game to Texas State, 38-35 in front of 7,246 fans.

Scouting San Diego
The Toreros opened their season last weekend with a 24-12 victory over NAIA Azusa Pacific at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. The Toreros totaled 291 yards of offense with 190 coming on the ground and 101 yards through the air. San Diego captain JT Rogan rushed for 50 yards against the Cougars and had 159 all-purpose yards in the meeting against the Bears in 2007.

Half Dozen
For the first time since 2006, Northern Colorado plays more home games than road games as the Bears have the first of six at Nottingham Field on Saturday.

First Starts
Four different players got their first career start in a Bears uniform against Kansas on Saturday. On offense, junior transfer Andre Harris started for the first time, while redshirt freshman Cameron Friend, senior Ryan Lutz and sophomore Colby Riggins each got their first starting nods on defense.

Career Nights
Of the five players who had six tackles in the season-opener at Kansas, three of them notched career-highs with that total. Redshirt freshman Cameron Friend established his first career-high in game one, while junior Korey Askew bettered his previous high of four and junior Ethan Davis doubled his previous high of three.

Committee of Catchers
Northern Colorado quarterbacks continued to spread the love among several receivers as seven players caught at least one pass in the season opener at Kansas. It is the 19th straight game six or more players have tallied a reception for the Bears. At KU, senior Alex Thompson and sophomore Patrick Walker led the team with five catches each.

Good Way To Start
Junior Jhamele Robinson, playing in his first game for the Bears, had quite a start, gaining 15 yards and a first down on his first career carry. It was the longest rush of the game by a non-quarterback for NC.

True Freshmen
Jace Davis, Chris Morris and Ethan Schmitt were the three true freshmen who saw action during the first game of the season. Morris caught one pass for a gain of seven yards, while Davis and Schmitt both saw action on special teams.

Welcome to the Family
Defensive coordinator Cody Deti and his wife Megan gave birth to a son, Samuel Wayne, on Saturday morning, August 29. Both mother and baby are doing well. He is their first child.

What To Look For
*Junior linebacker Matt King is just nine tackles shy of recording the 100th of his career.
*Senior wide receiver Alex Thompson needs just 174 more all-purpose yards for 1,000 in his career at Northern Colorado.
*Senior quarterback Bryan Waggener needs 289 passing yards for 3,000 in his career and with 295 more will tie for 10th on the career records chart with 3,006 yards (Mark Passard, 1998-02).
*Senior Quincy Wofford is now just 77 yards shy of 500 all-purpose yards in his career and is 16 tackles shy of 100.
*With one more made field goal, senior kicker Michael York will be ninth on the all-time list with 16 makes (15, Mike Williams, 1972-75).

Season Openers
Northern Colorado is now 44-50-3 all-time in season openers. This was the third straight year the Bears played up a division, taking on members of the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision). In 2007, NC fell 63-6 at Hawai'i and last year lost 42-10 at Purdue.

Preseason Honors
Several Bears received preseason attention from various publications. Senior quarterback Bryan Waggener was named a 2009 Consensus Draft Services Preseason All-American Honorable Mention while senior kicker Michael York was named to the Phil Steele Preseason All-Big Sky Conference First Team and junior linebacker John Eddy was named to the Second Team.

Bears Story Lines
*Junior James Schrenk made the move from backup quarterback to linebacker during spring drills and is slated to start against Kansas.
*Redshirt freshman Darin McDonald joins the Bears team after a short stint at Wyoming. Prior to that, he spent three seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league baseball system.
*Junior college transfer Andre Harris came to Northern Colorado for fall camp. He is considered one of the top running backs from California by several agencies.
*The Bears return all eight on the depth chart among defensive linemen from a year ago.
*Three players, safety Ryan Lutz, defensive back C.J. Stemo and kicker Michael York have all received their bachelor's degrees and have begun work on their masters.
*Northern Colorado athletics ranks first in the Big Sky Conference in graduation success rate, with last year's rate at 93%.
*Two upperclassmen on the team, junior kicker Zak Bigelow and junior offensive lineman Tim McGraw both have perfect 4.00 grade point averages and are in the Monfort College of Business.

Playing Clean
Northern Colorado was the least penalized team in the Big Sky Conference in 2008, getting whistled only 77 times in 11 games for a total of 692 yards. The Bears also allowed opponents just 212 first downs on the season, the third lowest total in the league.

Champions Council
This season, head coach Scott Downing decided to have a council of players who would lead the team and take more of a leadership role instead of the more traditional 2-3 captains. Those players, elected by their teammates are: junior Zak Bigelow, freshman John Burnley, freshman Cameron Friend, senior Chris Jones, senior Ryan Kemp, senior Ryan Lutz, junior Tim McGraw, sophomore Chuks Nweke, sophomore Dylan Orms, sophomore Colby Riggins, junior James Schrenk, senior C.J. Stemo, senior Thomas Stuemky, freshman Curtis Truett and junior Michael Van Portfliet.

On The Waggener Train
In 2008, quarterback Bryan Waggener threw for the sixth most yards in school history, passing for 2,546 yards. His 2,716 yards of total offense also ranked fifth. Both totals are the highest for a quarterback at the FCS level for the Bears.

Passing Yards
1. Corte McGuffey, 1999 3,388
2. Corte McGuffey, 1998 3,054
3. Loren Snyder, 1986 2,724
4. Mark Passard, 2002 2,685
5. Mark Sedinger, 1988 2,638
6. Bryan Waggener, 2008 2,546 
7. Tom Beck, 1995 2,442

Total Offense
1. Corte McGuffey, 1999 3,558
2. Corte McGuffey, 1998 3,397
3. Mark Sedinger, 1988 2,828
4. Corte McGuffey, 1997 2,796
5. Bryan Waggener, 2008 2,716
6. Tom Beck, 1995 2,550